Cancer-Causing Protein May Heal Damaged Spinal Cord & Brain Cells

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Source: Columbia University Medical Center

Released: Tue 27-Jun-2006, 19:20 ET

Cancer-Causing Protein May Heal Damaged Spinal Cord & Brain Cells

Newswise — Cancer researchers at Columbia University Medical Center

have found that a protein known for driving the growth of cancer also plays

a surprising role in restoring the ability of neurons to regenerate,

making it an important target for addressing spinal cord damage or

neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s.

The research will be published in the journal Nature and will be

available Wednesday, June 28 on the journal’s web site.

“Our finding suggests that the same process this protein uses for

proliferating cancer could also potentially be used to regrow axons

that are damaged in spinal cord injuries or neurological diseases,” said

Iavarone, M.D., associate professor of neurology and pathology

at Columbia University Medical Center’s Institute for Cancer Genetics,

and the study’s lead author.

The proteins – known as Id proteins - are abundant in the cells of many

different types of cancer, including brain, breast cancer and pediatric

tumors, and were known to promote tumor growth and aid in the spread of

cancer.

While searching for ways to attack Id’s cancer-causing properties, Dr.

Iavarone and Lasorella, M.D. assistant professor of pediatrics and

pathology at the Institute for Cancer Genetics, discovered the

surprising neuron-healing properties of Id proteins.

Their initial findings, also published in the Nature paper, are

significant for potential cancer therapies. The researchers found that

an enzyme inside normal cells - called APC – usually degrades Id

proteins soon after they’re produced, but cancerous cells show a very

high level of Id proteins. This suggests that re-introducing the APC

enzyme into cancer cells could eliminate the proteins and arrest the

growth of tumor cells – something that researchers will now

investigate.

Spurring Neuronal Regrowth

Among neurons, however, Dr. Iavarone and Dr. Lasorella examined the Id

protein potential for promoting growth, rather than arresting it. The

researchers wanted to use the power of Id proteins to stimulate growth

of axons - the structures on neurons responsible for transmitting

electrical signals in the brain and spinal cord. But to do that they

needed to overcome the problem of the APC enzyme, which degrades the

protein in normal cells. So they constructed a “super” Id protein that

would resist degradation from the APC enzyme, allowing it to promote

axonal growth.

Normally neurons cannot regenerate damaged axons because of the

presence of myelin, a substance that surrounds the axons, but the

degradation-resistant “super” Id protein was able to promote axon

growth even in the presence of myelin.

Dr. Iavarone added that there is no chance that such a therapy would

cause cancer in the brain or spinal cord. “Neurons have completely lost

the ability to create new cells so there’s no danger of creating a

tumor. The only growth they’re capable of is regeneration of their

axons,” he said.

Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in

pre-clinical and clinical research, in medical and health sciences

education, and in patient care. The medical center trains future

leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, nurses,

dentists, and public health professionals at the College of Physicians

& Surgeons, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the

Mailman School of Public Health, the biomedical departments of the

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and

institutions. http://www.cumc.columbia.edu

© 2006 Newswise. All Rights Reserved.

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